Oscar 2022 surrenders to popular vote via Twitter

The Hollywood Academy announced on Monday (14) the creation of a special category in the awards, which can be voted on by the public via Twitter. The novelty came with the objective of opening the doors of the awards to a wider audience, instead of being restricted to Academy voters, who are felt by the public as being further away from popular taste.

Voting is open from today until March 3, since the ceremony takes place on the 27th. To participate, simply tweet the name of the film, in English, along with the hashtags #OscarFanFavorite and #Sweepstakes. Users can vote up to 20 times per day. The fan favorite will be announced during the broadcast of the awards ceremony and three users will be selected for an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to present a category at next year's awards.

The campaign has become a way to engage the public on social media, encouraging users to spread the word about the ceremony on social media through their votes. This tactic is often used in more youthful awards shows, such as the VMAs, the People's Choice Awards and the iHeart Awards.

_{Oscar ceremony. (Photo: Courtesy/The Academy)}

Meryl Johnson, the Academy's vice president of digital marketing, commented a little about the action: “We’re thrilled to partner with Twitter to help build an engaged and excited digital audience leading up to this year’s ceremony. The Oscars are an opportunity to bring people from around the world together through a shared love of film, and through this initiative, social media users around the world now have the opportunity to engage with the show in real time, find community and be part of the experience in ways they’ve never been able to before.” concludes Meryl.

In addition to choosing their favorite movie, users will be able to vote for their favorite scenes between February 24 and March 3 using the hashtag #OscarsCheerMoment. The winning scenes will be shown during the awards show, and five users will be chosen to receive a year’s worth of free movies at a theater of their choice, as well as streaming subscriptions and exclusive items from the Academy Store.

(Featured Photo: Oscars. Reproduction/The Academy)